In an unexpected turn of foreign policy, the United States Government granted a temporary diplomatic visa to Interior Minister Armando Benedetti.

The decision by Donald Trump’s administration comes a few days before the crucial meeting at the White House, scheduled for February 3, and appears to be a gesture to “smooth things over” in the midst of one of the most acute diplomatic crises in recent years.

Benedetti, who has been a frequent client of visa revocations (first in 2017 and then in 2023), now has entry permission until the end of Gustavo Petro’s term in August 2026.

Tension between both countries reached its peak after the “visa crisis” in September 2025, when President Petro himself had his entry permit withdrawn after participating in a pro-Palestinian march in Times Square.

At this event, the Colombian president urged the US army to disobey Trump’s orders, which in Washington was described as an “inflammatory” action.

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This episode caused an earthquake in the cabinet: ministers such as Germán Ávila and Augusto Ocampo resigned, while Foreign Minister Rosa Villavicencio renounced her own visa in an act of solidarity, although she recently received a temporary one for the official delegation.

Despite this relief for Minister Benedetti, who has always declared himself a “victim of the visa games,” the atmosphere prior to the meeting is dense.

The face-to-face meeting between Petro and Trump occurs under the shadow of possible US military interventions to combat drug trafficking on Colombian soil, a warning that has kept the National House on alert.

With Benedetti’s visa already secured, the Government seeks to mend a fractured dialogue, while Colombian public opinion cautiously observes whether this meeting will serve to strengthen the relationship between both countries, or on the contrary, will deepen the cracks with the country’s main trading partner.

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